Mycotoxin Inhibits Airways Mucociliary Clearance

Submitted by GAtherton on 4 October 2016

There has been for many years a suggestion that mycotoxin levels may increase in damp homes and play a part in some of the health problems experienced by people living in damp & mouldy homes. It has been much more difficult to find evidence for such a link.

This new paper demonstrates that exposing ciliated cells to aflatoxin causes the cilia to beat more slowly. Cilia are the tiny hairs that line our airways which help keep our airways clean by moving anything that lands on them up and out of our lungs, they are vitally important to keep our airways clear (1 and 2). There are numerous diseases that are thought to involve the loss of ciliary function, many of which have multiple symptoms indicating the importance of ciliary function in a wide range of bodily systems ranging from the eye to the kidneys and liver – thought to be because of  cellular developmental faults caused by the impact of loss of ciliary function. Perhaps then loss of ciliary function caused by mycotoxin inhibition may also have more far reaching effects than first appears?

It is easy to speculate that ciliary malfunction can cause a variety of infections in our lungs, after all the lungs of people with cystic fibrosis (cf) have a similar malfunction. In cf the mucus that bathes the cilia is much thicker than it should be making it much harder for the cilia to move so the infecting particles that are breathed in and land on the mucus are moved much more slowly. This allows growing organisms such as bacteria and fungi to start to grow and colonisation and infection can result. People who have normal mucus but have slowly beating cilia are likely to have the same problem, and indeed people who live or work in damp, mouldy buildings are known to be prone to sinus and lung infections (review).

It is worth speculating further that mycotoxins can be produced by the infecting fungus as the fungus grows, further inhibiting mucociliary clearance. 

Unlike cf there is a drug suggested by the authors that will restore full ciliary function. Protein Kinase C inhibitors are being developed (and some are already in use) for other illnesses eg diabetic nephropathy and cancer. It is possible to speculate that one such drug may be useful for people living or working in damp, mouldy environments, helping prevent infection.